Eating more fruit and veg

We all know we need to include more fruit and vegetables in our diets. The government encourages us to eat at least 5 portions a day, some people aim for 10. Fresh, organic produce is best, but sometimes it is hard to afford enough for your diet. How can you quickly and cheaply add extra fruit and vegetables to your meals?

Here are some ideas I like. What are yours? Let me know in the comments below.

– Start using sweetcorn. It’s cheap and really versatile. You can include in it salads, jacket potatoes, scrambled egg, pasta, pizzas… and three tablespoons count as one of your five portions! You can also do this with peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas.

– Eat vegetables as snacks. When you’re feeling peckish, have some carrot sticks, celery with peanut butter, a stuffed pepper, a sweet potato or broccoli, tomato and cheese. Vegetables really are amazing once you explore all the different combinations and flavours. Don’t be afraid to experiment with various spices, too!

– Have a piece of fruit at breakfast every day. Eating it in the morning is refreshing and gets it out of the way. Bananas are cheap and almost everyone likes them, but also try pink grapefruit, kiwis and pineapple to help you feel ready for the day.

– Try eating fruit as a pudding. Have tinned fruit with cream for an inexpensive, quick and delicious end to a meal, or a baked pear with cinnamon.

– Add a spoonful of dried fruit such as raisins, banana chips, figs or prunes to your breakfast cereal or yogurt. They are really high in fibre but you might not want to eat too much due to the high sugar content. Just one spoonful of dried fruit is equal to one portion of your five a day and works out very cheap.

-Get into juicing. There’s a wealth of information out there about this really useful health-enhancing activity and you can make yourself wonderful vegetable juices to boost your intake of nutrition.

What do you like to do to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables you eat?